Learning to Trust
by luvs-to-write
Summary: In the aftermath of Season 2, Veronica and Logan are starting to get close again but Logan’s holding back. Can they can get past everything that has happened between them and learn to trust each other? LoVe of course.
1. Chapter 1

**Learning to Trust**

_I wrote most of this while waiting impatiently for Season 3 to begin. So this one takes place as of the season finale of season two._

_I wanted to get it done before season 3 started. Fan fiction somehow loses its significance for me once the actual episodes start to conflict with the fan fiction world. So knowing I wasn't going to make the deadline, I almost abandoned the story…until the season started. They skipped all the good stuff! Veronica and Logan share a kiss at the end of Season 2 and then it fast forwards to the afterglow of one of the many times they've made love. yawn. What about their journey to get to that point in their relationship? That's the stuff we want to see!_

_I am also frustrated that Veronica is still holding back with Logan. He is allowing himself to be vulnerable but Veronica is still hesitant. Not in my world. :-) _

_So, here it is. The missing chapters of LoVe._

**Chapter One**

Veronica and Logan cuddled together on her couch as the closing credits to the movie rolled. They'd gradually moved closer as the movie played. Touching. Her hand on his flat stomach. His arms around her. Her head resting against his chest – paying more attention to his beating heart than the movie. Veronica snuggled in closer and Logan tightened his arms around her. She sighed. She'd been anticipating this part all evening.

Between his father's murder and funeral, she and Logan hadn't had any time to be alone together since, well, since they'd gotten back together. It seemed that his friends, lawyers or even his full-of-herself sister were always around. She'd swear he was trying to avoid her except he wanted her around, too.

Her phone would ring early in the morning. "Hey, gorgeous."

"Hey, yourself."

"When are you coming over?"

"Can I at least shower first?" She expected a flirty reply to that one – maybe something about saving water by showering together.

"No point in showering. We're just going to be hanging out by the pool. Dick and the gang are coming over, too."

_Damn. Dick._

Finally, today she'd grabbed her chance. Her Dad came into the kitchen, suitcase in hand. He was going out of town on a case for a few days. _Perfect._

The second he was out the door, she was on the phone with Logan. "Want to come over for dinner tonight?"

"Family dinner with the Mars clan? Me? I don't know. That sounds a little too "Leave it to Beaver—"

Veronica sucked in her breath.

"Sorry. Stupid comment. I-I wasn't thinking."

"That's OK. Simple pop culture reference. What am I going to do? Stop discussing furry little rodents, or Canadian nickels, or using the word dam?"

"Canadian nickels?"

"Yeah, they have a beaver on them. Never mind. Besides, it's not the Mars clan. Mars senior is out of town for a few days." She paused to let the implication sink in.

The pause seemed longer than it should have been.

"Yeah, sure. That sounds good. Can I bring anything?"

_So damn formal. No comment about it just being the two of them? "_Just yourself."

"Let's make it dinner and a movie. I'll bring the movie."

A movie. That wouldn't leave a lot of time for talking or anything else she might have in mind. But at least he hasn't suggested going out to a movie, surrounded by hundreds of other people. They were going to be alone together. It was a start.

_Lord of the Bloody Rings._ Could he have found something longer to rent? Well, it could have been longer – he could have rented the whole trilogy.

Veronica raised her eyes to Logan's and smiled. He returned a hesitant smile and leaned down. She closed her eyes, remembering the fiery kisses the two of them had shared last year.

No lips pressed against hers. She opened one eye a crack. Logan was reaching for the remote control.

"If you start the DVD extras I _will_ beat you up."

Logan laughed. "And I don't doubt that you could." He leaned back on the couch, a cocky half smile on his face. The remote still lay on the coffee table.

_OK, she had his attention. Now what? This hadn't been so difficult last year._ Veronica took a deep breath. "I've missed you."

Logan lost his cocky half smile. Veronica would have been nervous about that but in his eyes…in his eyes she could see a glint of the passion they'd shared.

"I missed you, too," he whispered.

Veronica sat up and wrapped her arms around Logan's neck. "Show me how much."

Logan half exhaled, half groaned as his lips met hers. Hard and soft. Rough and gentle. Here was the passion she'd known. The Logan she'd known. That, and a hint of desperate longing. He was a man in the desert and she was his water. He bent her backwards on the couch, his weight pressing down upon her length.

She fumbled with his shirt, gently drawing her hands up his back.

He buried his face in her neck, nipping a trail as he went.

_OMG that felt good._ Her nails dug into his back as she arched towards him.

"Veronica," he groaned.

She reached for the waistband of his jeans, running her fingers just underneath until she reached his belt buckle.

A sharp intake of breath hissed through Logan's teeth and he was gone. He stood beside the couch, breath heavy, eyes dark. "I've got to go. It's late."

Veronica scrambled up. "Logan, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just…I have another appointment with the damn lawyer tomorrow."

"Come on. I've seen you go into exams after partying all night. What's one meeting with a lawyer who's totally sucking up to you anyway?" Veronica reached out a hand.

He stepped backwards. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he hadn't meant to do it. Like he'd given too much away.

Veronica's voice shook. "What did I do wrong?"

Logan straightened up. "God! Why do girls always think it's about them? I've got two dead parents – a pill-popping suicide case for a Mom and a murderous, now murdered father. I've got a vulture of a sister circling the dead bodies, looking for the cash." Logan opened his arms wide. He was yelling now. "Excuse me if I don't have time to satisfy your animal urges!"

Veronica gasped.

Logan opened his mouth as if to say something. Then he shook his head and headed for the door. A hand paused on the doorknob for a moment, and then he was gone.

_What the Hell just happened?_


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for the reviews, everyone! Glad to know you're anticipating the next chapter._

**Chapter Two**

_Having a fight with your boyfriend in the summer sucks. Without school to throw you together, you just might never speak again. I guess that means we've broken up._

It had been a week since Logan had walked out. He hadn't called, and she sure as Hell wasn't going to call him. Her Dad was gone again and this time around she didn't look forward to having the house to herself. _What was with all these trips, anyway? _Her Dad was being very secretive about this case.

Dick was having a party that night. She knew Logan would be there. Maybe she should go. Show him she wasn't going to hide at home. Yeah, everyone knew how well it went last time her stubborn pride took her to a party where she wasn't welcome.

But in spite of what had happened last year, in spite of what happened last week, she wanted to see Logan. Try to figure out what was going on with him. He seemed to care about her – most the time. And she knew he wanted her – that much had been clear when he'd been lying on top of her. _Why had he run off that night? _Veronica couldn't let it go. Couldn't let the whole thing just end without knowing what happened to their epic romance.

Veronica took a deep breath and pushed open the front door of the mansion. _Here goes nothing._

Inside, the polished floors were littered with beer cups and the occasional unconscious oh-niner. Music blasted from giant speakers. Veronica looked around. A bunch of people she didn't want to talk to. But no Logan. She wandered through the house. He had to be there someplace. It was quieter near the back of the house. She started opening doors.

"Hey!"

"Get lost!"

"Go watch someone else, you perv!"

_God, how many bedrooms were in this house?_ She suddenly felt sick. What if she found Logan…behind one of those doors? Better to know. Easier to forget about him that way.

She opened another door. A naked body attached to a scrappy blonde head writhed on the bed. _No Logan and on top of that_ _she has to see Dick's hairy ass. Not a good evening so far._

"Yo! Mars. You planning on joining us?"

Veronica started to close the door. _Blech!_

"Leave Logan alone. He doesn't need you screwing with his head anymore."

Veronica paused. "You don't have any idea what you're talking about."

Dick jumped out of bed, grabbing a pillow to cover himself with. _A pink pillow but better than the alternative vision burned into her retinas._

The girl sat up in bed, deer caught in the headlights, clutching the sheet to her. She looked no more than 13.

"Nice jailbait, Dick. Can't find anyone older than that willing to sleep with you?"

A quick glance back at the girl and then he pushed Veronica out of the room, shutting the door behind him. "Get the Hell out of my house. You've already dumped Logan. What else do you need to torture him with?"

"I dumped him?"

"Yeah, just like you dumped him all those other times. I told him he couldn't trust you."

"What makes you think I'm the one who dumped him?"

Nobody is that fucking bummed out when they do the dumping." He tapped the side of his head. "You aren't the only one with detective skills. Just call me Private Dick." He threw the pillow away. "And if you'd like a piece of this Private Dick I promise you won't get inside my head like you did Gloomy Boy's."

_Ugh!_ Veronica hurried down the hall. _Retina burn. Retina burn!_ Dick was an idiot. But maybe he was on to something. Why would Logan trust her? She accused him of drugging and raping her and then she dumped him. Suspected he was about to create a Paris Hilton video of the two of them…so she dumped him without even asking if it was his camera. Suspected he'd killed Lily so she turned him into the police. And then as the final icing on the cake, dumped him when he was totally messed up in the head and soon after started dating his best friend. Veronica groaned. _I'm a horrible girlfriend._

She skittered around a corner and slammed into someone.

"Logan," she breathed.

He'd grabbed her arms to steady her. Now he dropped them like they were burning him. "What are you doing here?"

A hundred smart-ass comments came to mind but now wasn't the time. "Looking for you."

Logan cocked his head to one side, weighing her words. His eyes had that glazed drunken look she'd seen on him too many times. "Well, you found me, so you can go now." He wobbled past her and headed into one of the rooms she hadn't yet checked.

She followed him in. Pool table, dart board, Foozball. He may not want to see her but at least he wasn't in bed with anyone else.

Logan picked up a pool cue and broke with an unsteady hand. Balls bounced around the table but he sunk none of them.

Veronica grabbed a second cue. "Six in the side pocket." A crack and the six spiraled down the hole.

"Why are you still here?" Logan asked.

Veronica motioned towards the two and pointed at one of the corner pockets. "Because I want to talk to you. Figure out what went wrong," With a snap of her arm the two ricocheted off the side rail and disappeared down the corner pocket. "and try to fix it."

Veronica lined up her next shot…

"Why?"

…and scratched.

"Because I think we had…have something worth saving."

Logan closed his eyes. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Pretend you care."

"Logan, I do care. Would I be here at this crappy party if I didn't? Look, I know—"

Laughter from the hallway. The door crashed open and a couple spilled onto the floor.

Logan spoke through gritted teeth. "This room's occupied."

"Look, man—" the guy started.

Logan raised the pool cue. "Get. Out."

The couple scrambled out the door.

Veronica felt a fragment of hope. Maybe Logan was ready to talk to her. "This is a lousy spot to talk," she said. "Can we go someplace else?"

He turned back to the table. "I'm busy shooting pool at the moment." He lined up another shot.

Veronica sighed. Logan was a tough nut to crack. "Tell you what. We play one game. If I win, you leave with me and we talk. If you win, I walk out and quit hassling you"

Logan straightened up from the table. "You'd hustle a drunken man?"

"Hey, if you know you're going to lose we could just leave now."

Logan smiled. "No, I'll play." He went back to his shot. Off two rails and into the pocket.

Veronica felt a stab of worry. This was one game she couldn't lose. And maybe Logan wasn't as drunk as she thought he was. "Um, so I'm solids. Those two I already sank, they're mine."

Logan's playing continued its miraculous improvement. Soon there was only the 8-ball left on the table. They batted it around the table for a few minutes.

The next shot was a difficult one. Veronica wouldn't risk it. She'd just place it someplace equally impossible for Logan. She picked the perfect awkward corner and lined up the shot.

"We aren't worth saving."

The cue ball hit the eight. It didn't go the direction it was supposed to. _Damn. _"You're right, Logan." Veronica said angrily.

"Good." Logan hesitated. "I'm glad we agree."

"If you're not even willing to try, then no, there's nothing here worth saving, because I can't do it by myself." She threw the cue on the table.

"Um, Veronica?"

"What?" she snapped.

"Your cue is blocking my shot." He motioned to the table.

Veronica snatched up the pool cue and got her first look at the lay of the table. Her shoulders slumped. She'd left Logan with a fairly easy shot.

"Eight-ball, corner pocket."

Veronica moved behind Logan as he lined up the shot. His line was good. But was it good enough? She stepped closer.

Logan stood abruptly, bumping into her. "You're hovering."

"I'm not hovering." Veronica wrapped her arms around herself.

"You are." Logan's eyes were on her mouth.

Veronica realized she'd been biting her lower lip. She stopped. "Just make your damn shot."

Logan turned back to the table. Again, his line was good. He pulled back on the cue and the angle changed a fraction as he pushed forward. The cue ball hit the eight a bit off, putting a spin on it as it moved down the table. A soft bounce off the rail and it came to rest a hair's width from the corner pocket.

Veronica exhaled a long breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Guess I'm going with you," Logan said quietly.

"Yeah, guess so."

They didn't speak in the car. If Logan was curious where she was taking him, he didn't ask. That was fine with Veronica. She hadn't figured out what the heck she was going to say to him anyway.

Logan let out a huge yawn.

Veronica smiled. "Am I boring you?"

"Sorry, I didn't sleep well this week."

"Neither did I."

"Veronica, I—" He stopped, and then rolled towards the window. "I think I need a nap. Wake me when we get there."

"Good idea. You'll need all your strength when I start yelling at you later."

Logan chuckled and that was the last sound Veronica heard from him until the snoring started a minute later.

Veronica drove around town for a while. Did she have a game plan? No. She pulled up in front of her house. A good a spot as any to talk. Veronica shook Logan's arm gently. "Wake up. We're here."

Logan opened one eye a crack. "You've brought me here to take advantage of me while I'm drunk, haven't you?" He closed his eye again.

Veronica shook his arm again, a little harder this time. "Get in the house. Sleep it off and we'll talk in the morning.

Logan struggled to sit up and shake off the sleep. "No, I'm good. We can talk tonight."

"Forget it. You're half drunk and half asleep. I want your full attention when we talk."

"Logan climbed out of the car. "And I prefer to be drunk and numb when we talk." He yawned again.

Veronica glared at him. She didn't know how drunk he really was but he was doing a good job of keeping her at a distance. "Fine. But I'm putting coffee on while you shower to wake yourself up."

"Oh, a shower. Are you going to join me?"

Veronica's eyes narrowed. "And what would you do if I said yes?"

Logan turned towards the house. "Call me when the coffee's ready."

Veronica had just flipped the switch on the coffee maker when she heard the special chime on her computer. She ran to the computer and typed in her password. _"Look at these very, very, very cute babies" _was the subject line. Another password and the e-mail opened. A PowerPoint file. _What the heck?_ She clicked it open and sure enough, an entire Powerpoint presentation of Anne Geddes type babies. _He wouldn't risk it for a generic email…unless..._ She read the subject line again, and then forwarded through the screens.

She smiled. _Aww, cute._ Now she knew how she was going to prove to Logan that she could be trusted – and that she trusted him.


	3. Chapter 3

_I apparently caused some confusion with the last chapter. I hope things start to clear up with this one._

**Chapter 3**

The shower shut off and a minute later Logan emerged; hair damp but back in his clothes.

Veronica would have preferred a towel but that wasn't what this evening was about. She handed him a steaming mug.

"What? No cream and sugar?"

"You don't take cream and sugar."

"So good of you to remember."

"Oh shut up and follow me." Veronica headed towards her bedroom.

"I thought you wanted to talk. Now you're telling me to shut up. I know it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind but—"

Veronica paused outside her bedroom.

"Your bedroom? I think your definition of talking and my definition of talking are a weeee bit different." He held a finger and thumb up to show what he meant by wee.

Veronica clasped a hand over his. "There's an e-mail I want you to see."

Logan looked puzzled but entered the room and sat in the computer chair.

Veronica pointed. "This one."

"So…we're picking one out for adoption?" Logan put his hand over his heart. "I'm touched but honey, I thought we'd finish college first."

Veronica slugged him in the shoulder. "Read the subject line again. Who uses three 'verys' in a sentence?"

"An 11-year old girl?"

"Yeah, it was one of Dick's girlfriends who sent me this." She pointed at the subject line again. "It's code. Eight words." She moved to the PPS file and clicked through the slides.

"…six, seven, eight." She stopped on the photo of a wide-eyed baby girl. "Remind you of anyone?"

"Lily," he said, so quietly that Veronica could barely hear him.

"Yeah," she said softly. "that's what I thought, too."

"Wow." Logan touched the screen. "So this is Duncan's…"

"Yup."

He turned towards Veronica. "How many other e-mails have you gotten from him?"

"This is only the second one. Mac set up a pretty sophisticated method of contact but we still don't want to risk it that often."

"So you knew Duncan was planning to leave town?"

"Guilty."

"And you helped him?" Logan slapped his forehead. "Of course! That's why not even the FBI can find him. The Mars expertise."

Veronica smiled. "Guilty."

"And the big fight you two had just before he left was staged so no one would suspect you of aiding and abetting."

"Guilty."

"And if Duncan had never left town you two would still be together."

Veronica opened her mouth to speak, and snapped it shut again.

Logan pushed away from the computer and stood to leave. "Yeah, guilty."

She blocked his path. "That's not true. We wouldn't be together any more."

"Come on, Veronica, quit lying and get out of my way. I'm out of here."

Veronica crossed her arms. "I'm not lying and you're not leaving."

Logan's face remained grim. "You're going to stop me?"

"No, but you lost the pool game. I know you and you won't back out on that."

"Don't make me out to be honourable," Logan growled. "Besides, I lost on purpose."

"I know. Which means that part of you wants to talk to me."

Logan sighed. "I never could fool you. Fine. The masochistic part of me wants to hear you whisper sweet nothings while I pretend for a while that they're true. The self preservation part of me wants to get the Hell out of here. So if you care about me at all you'll just let me leave."

Veronica felt like her heart was being ripped out. He was in such pain and this time it wasn't his father that caused it. It was her. "Do you know why I showed you that e-mail?"

"Oh, I don't know. To torture me?"

"You're Duncan's best friend and I knew you could be trusted with the information. And I wanted to show that you could trust our relationship."

"And how does knowing you're still in contact with the love of your life – and oh by the way, that big fight was just staged and you're actually _soooooo_ perfect for one another that you've never ever wever had a fight – just how is that supposed to make me trust _our_ relationship?"

Veronica took his hand and led him back to the computer. "Duncan only sent the e-mail a few minutes ago. He's probably still at whatever computer he typed this from. I thought we'd send him a reply…together."

Logan looked up sharply. "It's almost midnight. If he knows I'm in your bedroom at this time he'll think…"

"Exactly what he's supposed to think. That we're back together." Veronica gave Logan a nudge to sit down. "Better that he find out from us. Not like last time."

Logan backed away, shaking his head. "No point messing with his head when you and I are done."

"ARGH!"

"Logan looked up, startled.

"Why do you keep saying that?" she shouted.

"Because it's true," Logan said cautiously. "I can't compete with Duncan. He's smart, he's noble, and let's face it, he's perfect. And what the hell am I? A first class A-hole.

Veronica started to speak but Logan shook his head. "Come on, you know as well as I do that I'm a total screw-up. You would choose Duncan and I can't blame you for that."

Veronica blinked back tears as she stared at Logan's chest. She wanted to just hold him tight and squeeze away the pain. How could he not know how she felt about him? "I would choose you."

Logan gently cupped her chin and lifted it so their eyes met. "You can't even look at me when you say it."

"No – I—"

"And when I said a few minutes ago that you would still be with Duncan you couldn't say anything at all."

"I was surprised you suggested it, that's all."

"Listen, I'm not mad. I'm not going to go all psycho and bitter on you like last time. Duncan is your first choice. I get that. Hell, he'd be my first choice too. You know, if I were inclined that way."

Veronica gave a small smile. "Warped comments like that are why I choose you over Duncan."

"You expect to woo me by calling me warped? Ah, flattery." He smiled but the smile quickly disappeared. "Banter alone doesn't get a couple to their golden anniversary, with grandchildren bringing them tacky gold spray-painted crafts as presents."

"You think about things like that?" Veronica said softly.

Logan looked away. "No, I – just another warped comment to come from my warped brain."

Veronica didn't know what else to do. Nothing she was saying seemed to matter. If he wouldn't listen to words…maybe…


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks for the great reviews, everyone! In this chapter you'll find out why Logan doesn't want to get too close to Veronica. And I swear I wrote this before Logan broke up with her in last week's episode._

**Chapter 4**

Veronica took a step closer. She could feel the heat of his body against hers. "Let me show you how I feel about you instead." She wrapped her arms around his neck, brushing fingers through his hair.

Logan's eyes darkened. "We're supposed to be talking."

"You weren't listening to words. I'm trying another form of communication." Before he could protest she was on tiptoe, kissing him.

His lips were stiff at first. _Was he was going to push her away?_ Then he gave a throaty growl and he was kissing her back. His arms wrapped around her and held her so tight her breath caught. He lifted her off the ground and she wrapped her legs around him, clinging to him as tightly as he was clinging to her. She wanted to be closer to him. Needed to be closer. In between kisses she breathed out the words that were screaming inside her. "Logan…make love…to me."

Logan's lips froze on hers and his arms loosened their grip.

"Logan," she groaned. "Don't think. Don't stop. Just kiss me." But her legs reluctantly slid back to the floor.

He stepped away from her and ran his fingers through his hair, eyes flicking around the room, looking everywhere but at her. "I can't."

"Why not?" Her voice cracked. She'd asked him to make love to her and he'd turned her down. It hurt. "You do it with every tramp that looks sideways at you. Why not me?"

"God, Veronica." Logan paced the room. "For someone so smart, you can be pretty stupid sometimes."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Logan stopped pacing. "You aren't just some tramp and we wouldn't be just 'doing it.'"

"That should be a good thing." Veronica glared at him.

"Well it isn't!" Logan shouted. "I sleep with those women, walk out the next morning and never look back. But if it was you I was making love to," Logan closed his eyes. "To know your touch. To have those memories, and then lose you." He shook his head, opening his eyes. "Last time you left me it just about killed me. I couldn't survive this."

Veronica searched for words. When had he become so vulnerable? So afraid of getting hurt that he wasn't willing to risk living life? She grasped at anything. "Um, we've never made love before. For all you know, I could be lousy."

Logan gave a sharp laugh. "You and I could never be lousy together," he said, his voice husky.

Veronica thought back to last year, and their make-out sessions on various couches, desks, and broom closet floors around Neptune. "You're right, we'd be amazing," she breathed, looking up at him, a knowing smile on her face.

He stared back and shook his finger at her. "Stop thinking like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you're mentally removing my clothing."

Veronica smiled. "Why not?"

"For one thing, it's supposed to be guys that think that way. For another thing, you get me thinking things I shouldn't be thinking of."

"Good."

Logan flung up his hands. "Oh, so you _are_ trying to torture me."

"It wouldn't be torture," Veronica said softly.

"You're right," he replied, with a sad smile. "The torture would come later when you left me."

"I don't have a crystal ball." Veronica gave a sigh of exasperation. "I can't promise you that we'll make it to our golden wedding anniversary." She took a step closer to him. "But I can guarantee that I will _never_ leave you for Duncan."

Logan cocked his head. "You're just saying that because you know he's never coming back."

"I'm saying that because if he was standing in this room with us I'd take your hand in mine," she intertwined her fingers with his. "And I'd say, 'Good to have you back, Duncan. Where's that cute baby of yours? Logan and I can't wait to see her.'"

Logan shook his head, but he didn't let go of her hand. _Progress._ "Nice story."

"It's not just a story. It's the truth."

"Veronica, tonight has convinced me that _you_ believe it's true – that you don't believe you're just settling for me. But come on, do the math. Duncan vs. me. The choice is obvious."

Veronica gave another sigh. It was going to be so difficult to convince Logan when all the sincerity in the world was just seen as self-delusion on her part. She chose her words carefully. "Choices of the heart are never obvious. And they don't have a whole lot to do with logic either. Yes, Duncan was my first love. And you're right. We never, ever, ever had a fight. Does that mean we were perfect together?"

Logan shrugged.

"Or does that just mean there was no passion?"

Logan shook his head. "My parents fought all the time, and theirs was the relationship from Hell. Don't try to BS me with some crap about our fights giving our relationship meaning."

Now it was Veronica's turn to shrug. "Hey, the crap comes from you. You don't remember this but on the night of the alterna-prom, you told me that ours was an epic romance, with lives ruined and bloodshed."

Logan looked horrified. "I didn't say that."

Veronica grinned. "You did and it was beautiful. And when I asked you if you really thought that relationships had to be that hard you told me—"

"No one writes songs about the ones that come easy," he whispered.

Veronica's eyes widened. "You remember?"

Logan looked sheepish. "Pieces are coming back."

"I'm glad." Veronica smiled. "I'd hate to be the only one to remember such a significant moment in our relationship." Then she got serious. "Listen, when you asked me if Duncan and I would still be together, I hesitated. It's taken me a few minutes to figure out why."

"And the result of your self-analysis is?"

"I hesitated because you're right. Duncan and I might have still been together today."


	5. Chapter 5

_This is it -- the last chapter. Although no one has commented on the Duncan being noble thing, it kind of bugs me. We all know he called the hit on Logan's Dad, but Veronica and Logan don't know that._

_Let me know what you think of where I ended it. Thanks for reading! _

**Chapter 5**

Logan looked like someone had punched him in the gut. "At least you're being honest now. Excuse me while I go throw up." He ripped his hand away from hers.

Veronica blocked his path. "But it wouldn't have been right. It wouldn't have been real."

Logan's eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"

"It means that when I started dating Duncan again, I was trying to recapture how happy and carefree I'd been the first time we'd been together. Lily was still alive. My Mom was still around. You weren't a psychotic jackass."

Logan gave a bitter laugh.

"Deep down, I knew I couldn't turn back time. That didn't stop me from trying my damnedest to make it happen anyway. But even before Duncan left, I knew it wasn't working. People were still dead, or gone. I couldn't turn back into the happy naïve girl I'd once been. And I didn't want to anyway."

"Why didn't you break up with him then?"

Veronica shrugged. "All the reasons you named. Duncan is smart, he's nice, and we never fought. I kept trying to tell myself he was the perfect guy. That we could be happy together. Your basic apathy. So yeah, we might have still been dating if he hadn't had to run."

"And now?"

"Now, I've had time to see our relationship from a distance. When Duncan left it was like a good friend left; not like the love of my life left. And I realized that while the old Veronica Mars loved Duncan Kane, that girl hasn't existed in a long time."

Logan stared intently at her. "And the new Veronica Mars?"

"The new Veronica Mars lies in bed at night, remembering the passion she once shared with an old boyfriend. An old boyfriend named Logan Echolls, not Duncan Kane."

Logan took a sharp breath.

Veronica's glistening eyes caught the light as she stepped closer to Logan. "And the new Veronica Mars, knows with all her heart that there is only one guy she wants to be with. The new Veronica Mars…" her voice trailed off. "Aw, the Hell with hiding behind the third person." She took both his hands in hers and lifted her eyes to meet his. "Logan, I love you."

Logan squeezed her hands. "Veronica, I—I don't know what to say."

"Say you believe me."

Now Logan's eyes were glistening. "I believe you," he said softly, leaning his forehead against hers. "And I love you so much it hurts."

"It shouldn't hurt, Logan." She whispered in his ear. "Let me take away the hurt."

Veronica felt Logan's body quiver. Then he leaned down and his lips brushed against hers. Her breath escaped as a sigh. Their kiss deepened. One hand eased out of hers and then his fingers were through her hair, pulling her head closer to his.

A few minutes and they were both gasping for oxygen. Logan pulled back a few inches. His eyes flickered over her face, as if memorizing every inch. Then his dark eyes met hers and his voice came out ragged. "Make love to me, Veronica."

Veronica exhaled slowly. She took his hands in hers and backed towards the bed. Her legs met the edge and she started to sit but he pulled her back up. She looked at him quizzically.

He just smiled and his eyes dropped to her shirt. He unfastened the top button. The backs of his hands brushed against her as he moved to the next button. Veronica arched toward him, craving more than just a teasing touch.

Logan smiled a knowing smiled and moved to the other buttons. When he was done, he pushed the shirt off her shoulders, his thumbs grazing the fabric of her bra as he did.

Veronica gasped. "You're a bad boy, Logan Echolls."

He gave a husky chuckle. "And that's why you love me," he said, moving to kiss a now exposed shoulder.

Veronica sighed. "And that's why I love you." She pressed herself against him but it wasn't enough. She stepped back and tugged his shirt over his head before moving closer again. Bare skin against bare skin. _Mmmm._ A current sparked between them.

Soon her jeans lay in a puddle at her feet. Veronica reached for Logan's belt buckle but froze. The last time she tried that she'd scared him off. But things were different now. _Right?_ She looked at Logan with pleading eyes. He wouldn't reject her again, would he?

Logan gave a nod of understanding and led her hand back to his buckle. Soon, the two of them were standing naked before each other. Logan's eyes were intense as they traveled over her body.

Veronica shivered, but didn't move to cover herself. She didn't feel vulnerable. Not here. Not with Logan.

Logan's voice was hoarse. "I trust you, Veronica."

"I trust you, too, Logan. With all my heart."

Logan smiled. Then he kissed her again, and lowered her to the bed.


End file.
